Autos

Apple Inc. last week announced CarPlay, a technology platform that more tightly integrates its iOS mobile device operating system in automobiles, boosting the number and type of iPhone apps that can be used and controlled via the auto’s in–dash display, voice commands and steering wheel buttons. It is the production version of a concept named […]

Autonomous or self–driving cars will offer many advantages when they’re widely available, including the elimination of accidents related to human error. But as bad as some human drivers are, people still have a great cognitive advantage over the autonomous cars that have been developed to–date: Thinking as we do, people can anticipate the moves of […]

Nissan North America next month will embark on a year–long commercial field test of a new electric cargo van, the e–NV200, to determine its viability for sale in the U.S. — beginning with a trial period by FedEx Corp., which will employ the vehicle for daily delivery rounds in the Washington, D.C. area. Production of […]

Automakers and their partners in the consumer electronics and wireless communications industries used the occasion of the 2014 International CES in Las Vegas last week to roll out a slew of new or updated high–technology features, options and prototypes. Many centered on connecting cars in novel ways to the Internet and, through it, to other […]

Automobiles powered by electricity or EVs — including plug–in hybrid gasoline–electric cars like the Ford C-MAX Energi and fully electric cars like the Nissan Leaf — are still a tiny fraction of the automobiles now on roads in the U.S. and around the world, and they are expected to remain such for a long time. […]

Ford Motor Co. debuted a new concept version of its Edge crossover utility vehicle (CUV) today at the 2013 Los Angeles Auto Show, showcasing experimental automated driving technologies that the automaker says herald features coming in its future mass–produced vehicles — including a self–parking feature that can be initiated from inside or outside the vehicle, […]

Land Rover North America has partnered with Architectural Digest magazine and New York design firm Hollwich Kushner (HWKN) to craft a unique aluminum sculpture that is simultaneously based on and a base for the 2013 Range Rover. Meant to evoke both the off–road capabilities and the design elements of the British SUV, the sculpture was […]

Lexus is seeking younger buyers for its all–new third–generation 2014 IS sport sedan model, which will arrive at dealerships this summer, largely by boosting its technology quotient — including some tech offered free for the first time in any vehicle. Performance improvements as well as interior refinements and lower pricing also are in the mix. […]

Mercedes-Benz customers now have a new way to pay their monthly financing bills: by using the vehicle’s in-dash display — but only if that bill includes a subscription to the automaker’s latest mbrace2 technology package and its extra–cost Mercedes–Benz Apps feature. Mercedes-Benz Financial Services USA — the company that finances most Mercedes-Benz loans and leases […]

Audi of America, Inc. has debuted a new lowest–cost data plan price of $15 per month for an in–vehicle Internet connectivity feature it sells under the Audi Connect moniker — a feature that provides access to online services through the in-dash display as well as a built–in Wi–Fi hotspot for passengers’ brought–in mobile devices. It […]